To the meat of the matter, I’d be interested in what comes after that first book deal, as my friend Steve says, some of the business of the practice. I imagine it would be different for each, depending on how well the first books did, what opportunities arise on their own, etcetera.

From the ‘art’ side, I wonder too about master class tips for characterization, evoking emotion. What lessons did you learn, what epiphanies were had about how to elicit an effect, if there were any at all.

However, I have largely identified where my strengths and weaknesses lie. With some of those strengths, I am aware enough that I consciously know why something works or not, while in other areas I am still struggling to learn how to consciously control and analyze what I can instinctively do pretty well (plotting is one of those – I build good plots, but I’m doing it be instinct). I’m also still discovering notable improvement in areas where I didn’t even realize I had a deficit. Emotional depth is one of those – I recently had a breakthrough there, even though I thought I was doing okay.

As for weaknesses, there are some I’m addressing directly, some I continue to avoid for now and also some areas where I have come to the realization that a perceived weakness may just be a different way of writing. For example, I have recently accepted that I will never be a lyrical writer known for beautiful prose. It’s not a competence but a voice issue. My natural voice just isn’t lyrical. I can do lyrical for poems or short prose passages, but after a few paragraphs my natural voice starts creeping back in. And voice is one of my strengths.

As for finding writing advice that is insightful for someone at my level or even above, I look at a lot of blogs, writing tips sites, etc… by and for writers all across the genre spectrum. Because writers in other genres approach craft issues differently and sometimes they even address topics that aren’t even considered issues in another genre. For example, if emotions and relationships are one of your perceived issues, you’ll probably find more insightful posts on that subject from romance writers than in the online SFF community, because SFF in general often struggles with depicting emotions and relationships. On the other hand, romance writers with world-building issues could learn a lot from SFF writers.

Successful MBA programs, on the other hand, have a very different approach: they are largely experiential, relying on case-based approaches, experiential exercises and other learning by direct application. The concepts are often the same as what might be taught at the undergrad level, but explored from a higher level and with more practical application.

Is there a potentially analogous application for mid-career authors who want to take it to the next level? I guess you’d be doing workshops of some kind with other mid-careers – but you’d need them to be taught by masters and past-masters…